Hero cat to throw out first pitch at ballgame

Tara the cat, who won mass Internet fame after a YouTube video showed her saving a 4-year-old boy from a dog attack in Bakersfield, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a minor league baseball game.

Exactly how she will do that, as a cat, remains to be seen.

But the Bakersfield Blaze, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, confirmed that the 6-year-old tabby will take the mound May 20 at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Apparently, she’ll get some help throwing the baseball from her owners, including the boy she rescued, Jeremy Triantafilo.

Minor league baseball teams are famous for one-upping each other with outlandish promotions. The Altoona Curve in Pennsylvania once had an “Awful Night,” in which fans would be treated to horrible service and be given souvenirs like lint or a photo of the coach’s gall bladder.

According to now-viral video footage of the hero cat, Jeremy was riding a bike in the driveway of his southwest Bakersfield home earlier this week when an 8-month-old labrador/chow bit into his leg. Out of nowhere came Tara, who pounced on the dog and scared him off.

The events were caught on surveillance cameras at Jeremy’s home. His father recovered the video and posted it to YouTube, where it’s garnered millions of hits. (In case you haven’t seen it, here it is.)

The boy has since received 10 stitches for the bite and is doing fine. The family credits Tara for an outcome that could have been much worse.

Mike Candela, assistant general manager for the Bakersfield Blaze, said Friday that the logistics of how next week’s first pitch will be thrown by a cat are still being figured out.

“I’m unsure myself of how that’s going to work,” he said, noting that it will be a combined effort by Tara and Jeremy. “They’re both going to be here. It shall be attempted.”